


Josh Has A Boba With My Cousin and I!

by vinegarandglitter



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV), Glee
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, discussion of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 01:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6219190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinegarandglitter/pseuds/vinegarandglitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebecca Bunch gets an unexpected phone call from her second cousin Rachel Berry who she hasn't seen in years. They have a boba - and a deep and meaningful chat. </p><p>Because if there are any 2 fictional characters who could actually be related, it's Rebecca Bunch and Rachel Berry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Josh Has A Boba With My Cousin and I!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set in late 2015/early 2016, between Crazy Ex-Girlfriend episodes 1x08 and 1x09. Rachel's back at NYADA and has been for about half a year, assuming she went back to NYADA in September 2015. Obviously this is set pre the "5 years later" 2020 epilogue part of the Glee finale but fits into canon, IMO.

Until she passed the bar, Rebecca had never been comfortable answering phone calls from an unknown number. Once she became a lawyer, she had to get over that fear pretty quickly - after all, there was always someone wanting to get hold of you for work purposes and you may not have their number saved. Sure, there was always that slight sense of foreboding every time an unknown number flashed up on her screen, but she was an adult now. She could deal with it. Right? 

 

“Cookie, your phone has been ringing non-stop for the past ten minutes!” 

 

Rebecca looked at her friend guiltily as she slid back into her desk chair. “Sorry. You know I don’t like to take my phone into the bathroom when I’m pooping.” 

 

Paula raised an eyebrow.

 

Rebecca sighed. “I mean, obviously I will in an emergency.”

 

The phone started ringing again. 

 

Paula groaned in frustration. “Please just answer it, for the love of god.”

 

Rebecca braced herself. “Hello?”

 

“Rebecca Bunch? It’s Rachel Berry.”

 

The voice on the other end of the line was vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite place it.

 

“Rachel…”

 

“Berry. Rachel Berry.”

 

Paula gestured wildly at Rebecca’s confused look. “Who is that?”

 

“Rachel Berry,” Rebecca repeated slowly, still lost. 

 

The voice on the other end of the line sounded impatient. “Your second cousin? Hiram’s daughter? Hiram, your mother Naomi’s cousin on her mother’s side?” 

 

It all clicked into place. “Rachel, of course. My second cousin. Um, hi Rachel, how are you?” 

 

“I’m very well and I hope you’re likewise. Aunt Naomi tells me you moved to California, that must be very exciting. She mentioned she was spending Hanukkah with you. Since I live in New York now, I was planning to get in touch to see if you catch up in the holidays but Aunt Naomi let me know you’d moved.”

 

Rebecca nodded, fully aware her cousin couldn’t see her and still wondering why on earth she was calling. “Yep, yep, I moved to California.”

 

“You know, I don’t think you’ve accepted my Facebook friend request. If you had, I might have known you’d moved to California and I wouldn’t have had to find out from Aunt Naomi. But I guess you’re very busy and since you’re so much older than me, you’re probably not a huge Facebook user,” Rachel continued. “Although people my age don’t use Facebook as much as we used to any more. Apparently most of the people who use Facebook primarily now are new mothers, and Aunt Naomi says you’re currently single so I’m sure kids aren’t on the horizon anytime soon-”

 

“It’s lovely to hear from you too, Rachel,” Rebecca interrupted. “It’s, uh, it’s a bit of a whirlwind of a day here at the office so, uh, was there a specific reason you were calling?”

 

Across the office, Jim and Tim were seeing how far their paper aeroplanes could fly. Paula rolled her eyes. 

 

“Of course, I understand that you’re very busy. Practicing law must be a very rewarding profession. I always heard about how well you were doing at Harvard and Yale and occasionally I thought that maybe that was something I could have done - but obviously, the stage is my one true passion and you can’t deny passion-”

 

Rebecca took a deep, steadying breath. “Look, I hate to be rude but I have a meeting any minute and-”

 

“Of course. I was just wondering if we could have lunch next week.”

 

That was unexpected. “Rachel, you got the part where I left New York, right?”

 

“No, I’m going to be in Los Angeles,” Rachel clarified. “For an audition. Now, I know what you’re thinking - the last time I tried the whole ‘television’ thing it didn’t work out so well-”

 

Rebecca frowned. “What?”

 

Rachel seemed put out. “My television show? Remember?”

 

“You had a TV show?” 

 

Rachel sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. It was a disaster. You must not have seen it and frankly, that’s probably a good thing.”

 

“Wait, how did I miss you had a TV show?” said Rebecca, now genuinely curious. “What was it called.” 

 

Rachel’s voice seemed smaller, all of a sudden. “‘That’s So Rachel’”. 

 

“‘That’s So Rachel’?”

 

Paula gasped.  “Oh my god, I remember ‘That’s So Rachel’! Didn’t they call that ‘The Worst Show in TV History’?”

 

“They did call it the worst show in TV history, yes,” said Rachel. Rebecca could hear the frown in her voice. “Who is that?”

 

“That’s Paula, my co-worker,” Rebecca explained. “So, you’re in Los Angeles next week. For a television… thing. And you want to have… lunch?”

 

“I’m auditioning for a role in a new musical comedy TV show,” Rachel explained. “It’s a supporting role, not a starring role - I’m still focused on NYADA and my studies, of course, but they encourage independent projects and we could work around it. It’s a long shot, of course, as I’m aware I’ve made a bit of an impression in the land of television but I firmly believe it’s important to be well rounded in all areas of entertainment.”

 

“That’s very mature of you,” said Rebecca, still somewhat bewildered. She hadn’t had a lot to do with her younger cousin growing up, due to the huge age difference, but the extended family had always drawn comparisons between them - intelligent, driven, somewhat neurotic and determined to succeed. The main difference, as far as Rebecca could see, is that Rachel followed her own dreams. Rebecca followed her mother’s dreams for her. 

 

“I thought it would be good for us to catch up, seeing as we never managed to when we were both living in New York,” Rachel continued. “Which is of course understandable, given that we’re both intelligent, driven and successful women with a lot to contend with. I’ve always felt a real connection between us - like we’re really kindred spirits.”

 

“Well, we are related.”

 

Rachel’s voice became slightly more tentative. “And there are some things I wanted to talk to you about. Successful driven Jewish woman to successful driven Jewish woman.” She cleared her throat slightly. “Would you, um… would you be amenable to having lunch with me?”

 

“I can get out to Los Angeles if you name a time and place, that’s not a problem,” said Rebecca. 

 

“Are you not in Los Angeles?” Rachel asked. “I’m sorry, Aunt Naomi didn’t mention you weren’t in Los Angeles and I just assumed because you’re a lawyer-”

 

“No, I’m in West Covina.”

 

Rachel paused for a moment. “Where’s that?”

 

“About 20 minutes from Los Angeles. It’s lovely, I think you’d like it.”

 

That was a blatant lie. Rachel would probably hate it.

 

“Well, should I come to you, then? I’m hiring a rental car while I’m in LA and obviously you’re really busy whereas I only have this one audition… I should come to you, it’s more convenient.”

 

“If you’re sure that’s okay, then that would be nice,” said Rebecca, trying not to sound too surprised. “I can show you around.”

 

“That sounds really nice, Rebecca. I’ll text you the details once I’ve got all my plans sorted out.” If Rebecca wasn’t mistaken, Rachel actually sounded… relieved? “It’ll be really nice to see you again.”

 

“It’ll be nice to see you again too, Rachel. I’m looking forward to it.”

 

As Rebecca ended the call, Paula squealed in excitement. “I can’t believe your cousin is a TV star!”

 

“Didn’t you say her show was considered the worst in television history?”

 

Paula shrugged. “Yeah, but still - she was on TV. You’ve got a famous relative. How did I not know you had a famous relative?”

 

“I didn’t really know she was famous,” Rebecca countered. “I mean, she always talked about how she was going to be famous one day but to be honest, I never really expected she would be. Not that she’s not talented, of course - she’s, like, ridiculous talented.” Rebecca tapped the end of her nose. “She’s, uh, got the real Jewish snozz. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.”

 

Paula looked thoughtful. “Barbara Streisand did pretty well for herself with a real Jewish snozz.”

 

“That’s what Rachel always said.”

 

***   
  
“This is about as different from New York as you can get, isn’t it.” 

 

Rebecca laughed at Rachel’s rather frank assessment of West Covina. “Yeah, it’s definitely not the Big Apple. They do have really huge pretzels, though.” 

 

The two of them walked down the street, chatting idly as they headed toward the restaurant Rebecca had picked out after Rachel reminded her for the third time that she was a vegan. It was the same one she’d taken Valencia to back when she’d tried to befriend her so she figured it was safe. And at least she knew the waiter would let her eat from the kids menu again.

 

Well, she hoped. 

 

“I hope it wasn’t too weird that I called so out of the blue,” said Rachel in her usual forthright manner. “I mean, I guess we really don’t see each other all that often.”

 

“Back in New York, things got kind of… all consuming,” Rebecca said, almost apologetically. “I mean, I knew you’d moved there, I just… I just wasn’t really in a position to get in touch. Things were so crazy, I was working so hard so when the opportunity to move out here came up, I just took it.” 

 

“You look happier than I’ve seen you in awhile,” Rachel commented as they sat down. “Looks like the sunshine is agreeing with you.”

 

“New York can get so cold, huh?” 

 

Rachel shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s nice. I like hats and scarves and coats and it’s not too different to Ohio. Plus, New York has that special something, you know? Like, the first day I moved there I just knew in my gut that this was where I was supposed to be.”

 

“I like New York, sure,” said Rebecca thoughtfully. “But I’ve never felt like it was where I needed to be. That feeling you described just now? That’s the feeling I got when I moved here, actually.” 

 

“That’s really nice,” said Rachel with a smile. The waiter came over to take their orders just as Rebecca’s phone buzzed. As Rachel asked what was in each of the main menu items, Rebecca not so subtly checked her phone. 

 

_ From: Josh Chan _

_ Free for boba in like 15 min?  _

 

Rebecca was torn. Normally she’d stop everything for some Josh time but her cousin had flown all the way from New York. 

 

_ To: Josh Chan _

_ Having lunch with my cousin right now. You free in an hour? _

 

“Obviously the Caesar Salad isn’t vegan… do you have anything that’s chickpea based?”

 

_ From: Josh Chan _

_ Whoa, I didn’t know you had family in town! That’s cool - we can catch up another time.  _

 

Rebecca bit her lip, looked at her phone and then turned to her cousin. “You know what, I’m not super hungry - how about we just, like, head and get some boba? Is boba vegan?”

 

“Boba is tapioca,” the waiter chimed in. “It’s definitely vegan.” 

 

Rachel nodded. “Sure, we can do that.” As she picked up her purse, Rebecca could see the waiter sigh in relief. They headed out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk. Rachel frowned. “You know, that waiter seemed awfully keen to get us out of that restaurant. I guess you can’t expect fantastic vegan service in such a small town. I remember how hard it was to find anything vegan in Ohio.”

 

_ To: Josh Chan _

_ My cousin is keen for boba and would love to meet you! See you in 15 minutes? _

 

“So, a friend of mine is keen to meet us for boba, would that be cool?” Rebecca asked, realising just after she’d hit send that it would probably be best to inform her cousin of what was going on. “I mean, I just said it would be cool, but if it’s not, I can text him and-”

 

“No, it’s fine,” Rachel assured her. “Is this guy a friend or…”

 

“We’re just friends,” Rebecca insisted. Quickly she trawled back through her memories to see if she could recall anything about Rachel’s love life.  _ Was it Rachel or my other cousin Siobhan who was a lesbian? No, wait! Rachel was engaged one time! Was that ages ago? Do I bring it up? What’s going on there… oh god, this is awkward… _

 

“I guess the last you heard about any of my relationships was when I got engaged,” Rachel said, somewhat tentatively. “It was all kind of whirlwind but Aunt Naomi asked me about it last time I was in touch.” 

 

“It didn’t work out?” Rebecca guessed. “I mean, it was awhile ago, so you must have been… what, 18? That’s… really young.”

 

“Yeah, it was probably for the best,” said Rachel, more subdued than Rebecca had ever seen her. 

 

“I’m sure he’s kicking himself seeing what he let get away,” Rebecca assured her. “Trust me, you’ve got the whole wide world ahead of you. But I guess you never forget your first love.”

 

“He’s not exactly in a position to be kicking himself,” said Rachel, her voice thick with emotion. “He’s… um… he’s dead.”

 

Rebecca stopped in her tracks. “Oh my god. Rachel, I am so, so, so sorry-”

 

“It was a few years ago now,” Rachel interrupted. “But I still think of him and… I still miss him.” 

 

This conversation was officially getting out of hand. “Oh Rachel, look, I am so sorry I brought it up-”

 

“No, I’m the one who brought it up,” said Rachel determinedly. “It’s… uh… it’s kind of one of the reasons I called you up, actually. I wanted someone to talk to about… I feel really stupid right now.” Rebecca watched in slight horror as her cousin dissolved into tears. 

 

“Honey, no, don’t feel stupid,” she insisted, grabbing Rachel’s arm and directing her to a nearby bench to sit down. “You can talk to me about anything. What’s going on?”

 

Rachel sniffed. “This probably seems really rude and really awful, but… I’ve been feeling really lost recently and I remembered that time back in law school when you… um… well, Aunt Naomi called everyone and we all found out you tried to… well…”

 

Warning bells started going off. “Rachel, are you thinking about… suicide? Because that is just… no, sweetie, no. You are talented and you are driven and you are so, so strong and I know you’ve got a lot to deal with and things can be really scary but you can’t give up, okay?” 

 

“I’m not really… I don’t  _ really _ want to, it’s just…” Rachel took a deep breath and fumbled in her purse, presumably for a Kleenex. “NYADA is hard work and both my roommates went off and got married - to different people, of course, although they’re both gay - so now I’m living alone, and I’ve been really lonely. And my friends are around, of course, but it’s just… I’ve been seeing this guy from high school. His name is Jesse and I might be falling for him - again, we dated back in high school and there’s always been something there - but then I keep remembering Finn and what we were supposed to have. And it’s really hard. And my dads got divorced, and if they can’t make a relationship work, then what hope do I have? What hope does anyone have?”

 

“Okay, I totally missed that Uncle Hiram and Uncle LeRoy got divorced, and I’m really sorry about that,” said Rebecca, putting her arm around Rachel and patting her arm gently. “I really am. But that doesn’t mean all relationships are doomed to failure. And, look, I get being really busy and feeling really alone. I was so alone and so miserable back in New York. And then I moved here and… I’ve made friends, I’ve got a new job, I’m doing really well. But, yeah, I get what it’s like to feel like you’re stuck and things are totally hopeless.”

 

“I know I’m very talented and have a lot going for me,” said Rachel in a wavering voice, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “And I always looked up to you when I was little, because you were so smart and you worked so hard and you were so successful - and I thought that if I worked hard, I’d be successful like you. But aside from Funny Girl, there just hasn’t been as much success as I wanted and I’m thinking that maybe I threw away my one chance at hitting the big time. That all my hard work was for nothing.”

 

“Wait, you were in Funny Girl?” 

 

Rachel smiled. “I was Fanny Brice.”

 

“Oh my god, you would have been so perfect.” Rebecca sighed. “I’m so sad I missed it! But, look, I promise you - you are going to get there one day. You are going to get back on that Broadway stage and do something completely amazing. Or you’ll get this musical TV show role and blow up the silver screen or whatever they’re calling it these days. You’re so talented and you’ve worked so hard. And you’re so young - you’re only, what, 22?”

 

“Actually, I just turned 21 in December.” 

 

“See? Plenty of time.” 

 

_ From: Josh Chan _

_ Here now. You far? _

 

Rachel blew her nose with the Kleenex she’d obviously found in her handbag. Rebecca could see her cousin literally pull herself together. “I guess your friend is waiting for us and we should go.”

 

_ To: Josh Chan _

_ We’ll be another 10 minutes. Sorry! We are coming! _

 

“Josh can wait,” Rebecca assured her. 

 

Rachel gave her a pointed look. “This Josh isn’t just a friend, is he.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh my god, weren’t you totally in love with a guy named Josh at summer camp when you were 16? I remember you telling me at Hanukkah that year about your whirlwind romance!”

 

“How on earth do you remember that? You would have been, like, 8?”

 

“I was 11, thank you very much. And it was super romantic. I’ve always remembered.” Rachel’s voice grew wistful. “When I met Finn, I thought of you and Josh. I remember you telling me that being with him was like… music.”

 

It was. Oh, how it was. Being around Josh Chan made Rebecca feel like her soul was singing. But there was no way she was admitting this to her cousin. “It’s the same Josh.”

 

Rachel squealed. “You’re kidding! Did you know that when you moved here?”

 

“I did,” said Rebecca cautiously, “but it was totally a coincidence that I ended up here in West Covina. I was offered a great job and he just happened to live here. That’s all. And, besides, it was years ago. And he has a girlfriend.”

 

Rachel narrowed her eyes. “But you still like him.”

 

Rebecca shook her head. “Nope. We’re just friends.”

 

Rachel rolled her eyes. “You are such a bad liar.”

 

“No, I’m serious,” Rebecca insisted. “We are just friends and I just want to be friends with him.”

 

Rachel stood up. “Well, we’d better hurry if we’re going to have boba with the famous Josh Chan. Let’s go.”

 

“Just… don’t tell him I told you all about him when I was 16.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“I mean, I don’t want him to think that’s weird.”

 

“Right. Because you’re just friends.”

 

“We’re just friends.” 

 

“Sure you are, Rebecca.”

 

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Why does no one believe me?”

 

Rachel laughed. “Because you never forget your first love.” She reached up to her neck to touch a necklace Rebecca couldn’t quite see. “I’ll never forget Finn.”

 

Rebecca pulled her cousin into a hug. “First loves are one thing, Rach, but they’re not everything. If you like this Jesse guy, you’re not betraying Finn by being with him. And things are going to get easier.” 

 

“I know, it’s just…”

 

“Hard?” Rebecca guessed. “Yeah. That’s just kind of how it goes. But if you’re lonely, you can call me, or email me, or… smoke signal or whatever, and we’ll talk. Anytime.”

 

Rachel smiled. “I should warn you I’m terrible at keeping in touch.”

 

“That’s fine, so am I.” Rebecca rubbed her cousin’s arm gently. “And hey, Rachel? If you’re still feeling really low and you’re thinking about… you know… you call me. I can give you the number of my shrink in New York and she can prescribe you something that’ll help - or you can, you know, find a shrink that won’t pump you full of drugs.” She frowned. “Someone recently told me my shrink in New York was a total quack, actually. I won’t give you their number. We’ll find you something. We can go on Yelp.”

 

“I’ll get in touch,” Rachel said seriously. “I promise. I just… I couldn’t talk to anyone else about it and I figured you’d get it, you know? Just talking has been good.” She smiled again. “Let’s get some boba with Joshua Felix Chan.”

 

“Please don’t tell him you know his middle name.”

 

“Hey, remember how we made up that song when we had that sleepover?” Rachel opened her mouth and belted out at the top of her impressive lungs. “Joshua Felix Chaaaaan, he’s my maaaan, and he’ll complete meeeee, cos nobody else caaaaaaaaaan…”

 

Rebecca slapped her hand over her cousin’s mouth immediately. “Rachel, seriously, I am begging you to please stop.”

 

“Mmmmphhhmphhhphhhmmm.”

 

“What?” Rebecca removed her hand. 

 

Rachel looked indignant but was still smiling. “You still love him.” 

 

“I promise, I don’t.” 

 

Rachel rolled her eyes. “You are nowhere near as good a liar as you think you are. You can’t fool me. I’m an actress - we’re the best liars out there.” 

 

“Then consider it a test of your  _ acting _ skills to not embarrass me in front of Josh,  _ please _ .”

 

“Fine.”

 

Sure, it might have been awhile since she’d spent quality time with her second cousin, and maybe she hadn’t been completely thrilled to hear from her in the first place, but Rebecca was glad they’d reconnected. As Josh waved at them from the other side of the bob stand, Rachel dug her elbow into Rebecca’s ribs. 

 

“Didn’t you say he was a dancer? He looks like he could be a dancer.”

 

“Yes, he is a dancer.”

 

Rachel grinned. “I dated a dancer at NYADA once. And let me tell you, he was definitely flexible…”

 

Rebecca felt herself blushing and thought to herself that maybe, just maybe her cousin had a point about her having more than friendly feelings for Josh Chan. Maybe. But they were just friends. And she definitely, definitely didn’t move here for Josh. 

 

“Becks, hey, this must be your cousin,” said Josh with a smile. 

 

Rachel extended a hand and grabbed Josh for an enthusiastic handshake. “Rachel Berry. It’s nice to meet you.”

 

“You too.” He gestured at the counter. “Shall we?”

 

“How about you two order and I’ll grab us some seats?” Rachel suggested. “Rebecca, I’m not fussy - just get me something vegan. But no strawberry.” 

 

As Rachel went off to secure seating, Josh turned to Rebecca and grinned. “Your cousin seems nice. Intense, but nice.”

 

“She’s a performer,” Rebecca explained, “she’s always been like that. She’s studying at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, actually.”

 

“Another New Yorker in town,” Josh commented. “Hey, if she’s your cousin then she’s gotta be cool, right?”

 

Rebecca tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. 

 

Rachel was as good as her word and didn’t mention Rebecca’s teenage crush at all. As she and Josh got into a discussion about New York pizza (“I don’t eat dairy or meat but there are so many places that do an amazing vegan pizza in New York - I think it’s all in the crust”), Rebecca surreptitiously took out her phone. 

 

Moments later, Rachel checked her pocket, looked over at her cousin and grinned. 

 

_ Facebook notification: _

_ Rebecca Bunch and Rachel Berry are now friends.  _  
  
  



End file.
